French student in Geopolitics, fieldwork in Kazakh (Almaty)

To introduce myself, I am Claire Borgogno, French student in second year of master's degree at the French Institute of Geopolitics (IFG), University Paris 8. In the context of my dissertation, I am working on the city of Almaty and on its relationship with the city of Astana.

My main question concerns the diverse dynamics of change in Almaty.

I am currently in Almaty, until May 14, for a fieldwork (probably also in Astana), aim of this work is to meet for interviews people who are living in Kazakhstan (Almaty, Astana or else), academic researchers, journalists, politicians, representatives of civil society, and so on, to get some views, opinions, representations, on questions concerning my thesis topic.

So, I wanted to know, if any of you would agree to meet me for an interview, I would be pleased to meet you and discuss with you, which would be a great help for me.

More specifically, my topic covers the following topics:

- The definition and redefinition of the status of the city of Almaty- The consequences of the transfer of the capital- The relationship (competitive or complementary) between Almaty and Astana- The societal changes in Kazakhstan, especially in the cities of Almaty and Astana- Means, strengths and strategies used, put forward, by the both cities to promote and valorize themselves and differentiate from one another- The various representations that different groups of people have on the two main cities of the country- The status of Kazakhstan in Central Asia and in Post-Soviet space